Inflatable ball



May 19, 1925. 538,163

F. A. BUECHNER INFLATABLE BALL Filed Jan. 8, 1925 IN VEN TOR.

Q %mff I Patented May 19, 1925.

UNITED STATES FRANK A. anEcnnEn, or BATTLE CREEK, MICHIGAN;

INFLATABLE BALL.

Application filed January To all whom it may com/cm.

Be it known that I, FRANK A. BUEOHNER, a citizen of the United Stat'gresiding at Battle Creek, in the county of Calhoun and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Inflatable Balls, of which the following description with appended claims, taken -ln'connection with the accompanying drawing, forms a specification.

The present invention moreparticularly relates to inflatable foot balls ,itnadeof discarded auto-tire inner tubes,,and has special; reference to the method of preparing and assembling the material preparatory to vuleanizing the parts, as well asj to the construction of the valve for the ball.

An important objectof the; invention is to make use of discarded auto-tire inner tubes to the greatest advantage as a'remunerative proposition, and at the same time produce an article of great resiliency and capable of standing the most-severe usage.

Another object of my invention is to providc an article of the character set forth,

which owing to the peculiar structure of the material, as well as to its weight, is especially adapted for the purpose of forming a hall necessitating no covering, medium in size and capable of taking exteriordecoration, as lettering, etc., which provides a neat and attractive advertising novelty for innumerable purposes, and a medium by which advertising may be broadcasted with alacrity when intrusted to the hands of boys,

Another object of especial. advantage is to so construct the valve that it will produce no protuberance upon the surface of the ball.

Still another object'is to proyide a valve having no metal or other hard parts in its makeup 'liable to cause injury to persons using the ball, or to break .a window or other glass or mar any article with which it comes in contact.

Other objects and advantages are to roduce a ball of the nature ec'onomica to manufacture, durable, and one that can be sold more cheaply than where a special material is necessary to produce aball of equal quality.

These objects and advantages will be readily apparent to those familiar with the art to which this invention appertains.

While I' have shown and especially described a method of producing an inflatable football, it will be apparent that the same a, 1925. Serial no 1,242.

material can be used to good advantage in the manufacture of basket and other balls of inflatable natur'e, and I would not be" understood as limiting myself to the precise shape generally designated in foot ball construction. i

In the drawings forming a part off-this specification, Figure 1 is a plan view of the two sections of an oval foot ball Witliim serted valve, preparatory to cementingtand vulcanized.

Fig. 6 is a detail side elevation oftthe valve.

Fig. 7 is a detail side elevation of the valve folded and cemented preparatory to introducing it into one of the foot ball sections.

In the drawings, like marks of reference refer to corresponding or equivalent parts in the different views, in which A represents a foot ball inflated, the same being made up from two elliptical pieces of rubber, 1 midi The piece 1 is somewhat smaller in size than the piece 2, and preparatory to being cementedand vulcanized together, the arts are beveled on their edges, as 3. The evel of the parts when the smaller piece is placed on the other to be vulcanized, is arranged so that the outer edge of the inner part 1 will meet at the heel ofthe inner edge of the outer bevel, as shown in Fig. 31:

Inasmuch as it is a feature ofany invention to use salvaged parts of inner auto tubes in the manufacture of balls of the character, to facilitate the work and to produce afgball thatwhen finished will have a symmetrical, neat and smooth appearance, I form'nar'row, V-shaped slits 4 in the rounded ends of the outer or large part 2, so that when the beveled edge of the part isinfolded on to the beveled edge of the inner part 1, as

shown in Fig. 3, the several flaps will lie edge to edge and present a uniform and smooth appearance, preparatory to the parts being vulcanized together. Antecedent to vulcanizing the parts 1 and 2 together, a valve B is made and inserted through an aperture formed in a portion or one of said parts. As herein shown, the valve is vulcanized to the smaller part 1 as illustrating its attachment to the ball. The valve is formed with a seating disc-shaped flap 5 having a centrally-disposed tube 6, and preparatory to being vulcanized into a ball the tube 6 is folded upon itself to make a bend or kink 7 so that the passage through the tube will be entirely closed, in which position.(shown.in Fig. 7 the outer contacting walls ofthe tube are cemented together. A valve having been thus made up, it is inserted through an aperture in a part, as .1, of a ball, and its flap 5 vulcanized to said part, after which the valve is placed so that when the parts 1 and 2 are prepared for vulcanizing, the valve will lie between the parts, as shown in Fig. 2, andbe wholly within the ball when completed.

.A ball having been thus assembled, air is forced into the ball through the valve intake by means'of an air pump in the usual manner. As air enters the tube 6 of the Valve, the outer wall of the tube where the bend or kink 7 is made, will expand and permit air to enter the ball, and owing to the valve being wholly within the ball and subjected to pressure on all sides, the tendency is to collapse the tube and preclude any return of air 'therethrough. As will be obvious, should it be necessary or desirable to reduce pressure when the ball is inflated, a match orother smooth-ended instrument pushed into the valve from the exterior to relieve the contraction of the rubber at the bend or kink 7 will permit air to escape and deflate the ball.

In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, I have described the principle of the construction and method of operation of my invention, together with the best embodiment thereof for the purpose set forth. But I desire to have it understood that the device shown is illustrative of a preother, the extended edge of the larger section being doubled upon the edge of the smaller section and the contacting edges of the two sections vulcanized together and an inflating valve operative through one of said sections.

2. In a device of the character set forth comprising two rubber sections, one of the sections being larger than the other and equally spaced therefrom at the circumference when placed one upon the other, said outer section being beveled from its outer edge inwardly and terminating at the outer edge of the inner section, said inner section being beveled from the outer edge inwardly from a point contiguous with the inner beveled edge of the outer section, the beveled edge of the outer section being doubled upon the beveled edge of the inner section and the edges of the two sections vulcanized together, an inflating valve operating through one of said sections.

3. In device-of the character set forth, comprising two unequal elliptical rubber sections uniformly spaced apart about their margins when one is upon the other, said parts being beveled on a line intersecting their margins, the outer section having V- shaped slits in its narrowed ends, the beveled edge of the outer section being doubled upon the beveled edge of the smaller section and the beveled edges of the two sections vulcanized together, an inflating valve operative through one of said sections.

4. In a device of the character set forth, comprising two unequal elliptical rubber sections uniformly spaced apart about their margins when placed one upon the other, said parts being beveledjon a line approximately bisecting the margins of the sections when the one is upon the other, the outer of said sections having V-shaped slits formed in its narrowed ends so spaced that when the beveled edge of said outer section is folded upon the beveled edge of the other section 'and the sections vulcanized together, said V-shaped slits will close together and present an even uniform surface, and an inflating valve operative through one of said sections, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

5, In a device of the character set forth, the combination with an inflatable ball, a valve comprising an elastic open-ended tube extending into said ball and hermetically sealed about its exterior extremity to said ball, said tube being bent upon itself and its contacting infolded outer parts cemented together in such manner that said tube will be closed at its bend but amenable to the inflow of air by pressure therethrough from the exterior and self-sealing by air pressure from the interior of said ball, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

FRANK A. BUECHNER.

Witnesses:

H. H. BALDOFF, L. B. SAwYER. 

